Why do research?

Medical research helps us to better understand the body and how it responds to risk factors, medical conditions and their treatments. It is an organised way to learn more about our health in general, and also about better ways to prevent and treat diseases and illness.

On these pages we talk about current and past research into heart health, specifically around:

What are clinical trials?

When someone undertakes a piece of medical research involving people it is often referred to as a clinical trial or research study. This is a type of experiment designed to find out if a new treatment or procedure:

is safe

has any unwanted side effects

works better than any current treatment

is well tolerated

helps you to feel better

is cost effective

Developing new treatments

All new treatments have to be thoroughly tested before any new drug can be licenced for use or any procedure can be used safely. Such treatments might be expected to:

Lower the levels of LDL-cholesterol and/or triglycerides in your blood

Improve your HDL-cholesterol level

Reduce your risk of having a future heart attack or stroke

Stabilise any existing heart disease that you have

Give relief from any symptoms that you may have such as angina or pain on walking

Help people who cannot use or don’t benefit enough from existing therapies